Dan Perkins (born April 5, 1961), better known by his

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Tom Tomorrow, is an American

editorial cartoonist An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary. Their cartoons are used to convey and question an aspect of daily news or current ...

. His weekly

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

, '' This Modern World'', which comments on current events, appears regularly in more than 80 newspapers across the United States and Canada as of 2015, as well as in ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'', '' The Nib'', ''

Truthout Truthout is an American Nonprofit organization, non-profit Progressivism in the United States, progressive news organization which describes itself as "dedicated to providing independent reporting and commentary on a diverse range of social just ...

'', and the ''

Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party and Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal American politics. The site publishes blog posts, polls, election and cam ...

'', where he was the former comics curator and now is a regular contributor. His work has appeared in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', '' Spin'', '' Mother Jones'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'', ''

Salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

'', ''

The American Prospect ''The American Prospect'' is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and Progressivism in the United States, progressivism. Based in Washington, D.C., ''The America ...

'', '' CREDO Action'', and '' AlterNet''.

Career

Perkins was first published in the

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

-based

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

magazine '' Processed World''. He adopted the subject matter of the consumer culture and the drudgery of work, a theme shared by the magazine, and entitled his comic strip ''This Modern World'' when it was launched in 1988. (Like many of the magazine's contributors he adopted a

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

to avoid retribution from potential employers.) In 1990, the strip began to be run in the '' SF Weekly'', before being picked up in the fall of 1991 by the '' San Francisco Examiner''. During this time of expanding audiences for Perkins, he shifted the focus of his work to politics. Perkins added papers throughout the 1990s, distributing his comic via self-syndication, a practice he has continued throughout his career. In 1998, Perkins was asked by editor James Fallows to contribute a bi-weekly cartoon to '' U.S. News & World Report'', but was fired less than six months later, reportedly at the direction of owner Mort Zuckerman. In 1999, Perkins had an animation deal with ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' and produced three animated spots that were never aired. In 2000 and 2001, his online animated series was the top-billed attraction in Mondo Media's lineup of mini-shows, in which the voice of Sparky the Penguin was provided by ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead g ...

'' champion and author Bob Harris. See http://thismodernworld.com/animation-and-film Perkins has also collaborated with

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Moore's work frequently addresses various Social issue, social, political, and economic topics. He first became publicly known for his award-winning debut ...

, according to a 2005 interview with the ''Santa Cruz Metro''. In December 2007, Keith Olbermann devoted the closing segment of an episode of his show to a reading of " Bill O'Reilly's Very Useful Advice for Young People", a two-page cartoon-cover story by Perkins for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

''. In 2009, Village Voice Media, publishers of 16 alternative weeklies, suspended all syndicated cartoons across their entire chain. Perkins thereby lost twelve client papers in cities including

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, New York, and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, prompting his friend Eddie Vedder to post an open letter on the

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

website in support of the cartoonist. Vedder and Perkins had become friends after meeting at a campaign rally for Ralph Nader in 2000. The collaboration between Pearl Jam and Perkins continued with an invitation to submit cover art for the '' Backspacer'' album in 2009. After being selected to provide the cover art for ''Backspacer'', Perkins went on to create a series of Halloween-themed posters for the concerts supporting the album. In 2015, Perkins was a finalist for the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

and later in the year, ran a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign that raised more than $300,000 to publish a career retrospective, ''25 Years of Tomorrow''.

''This Modern World''

''This Modern World'' is Perkins' ongoing comic strip that has been published continuously for more than 31 years. While it often ridicules those in power, the strip also focuses on the average American's support for contemporary leaders and their policies, as well as the popular media's role in shaping public perception. In addition to any politicians and celebrities depicted, the strip has several recurring characters: * A sunglasses-wearing penguin named "Sparky" and his Boston terrier friend, "Blinky" * "Biff", a generic conservative often used by Sparky as a foil * "Conservative Jones", a boy detective whose deductive reasoning satirizes the logic of conservative news analysts and politicians * The tentacle-waving aliens of planet Glox * The "Small Cute Dog", who was accidentally elected president on "parallel earth", and whose subsequent actions mirrored those of President George W. Bush * The "Invisible Hand of the Free Market Man", a superhero figure whose head is shaped like a human hand In September 2001, he began his blog, also called ''This Modern World''.

Personal life

Perkins, a longtime resident of both

and

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

according to his Twitter bio.

Works and publications

Anthologies of ''This Modern World'' * * * * * * – a large omnibus of early work and selected strips * * * * * – includes pre-''Modern World'' material * * Children's picture book * – a picture book for children aged 4–8

Awards

* 1993 Media Alliance Meritorious Achievement Award (MAMA) * 1995 Society of Professional Journalists James Madison Freedom of Information Award * 1998 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, Cartoon, for ''This Modern World'' * 2000 Association for Education in Journalism and Education, Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award * 2001 James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism * 2003 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, Cartoon, for ''This Modern World'' * 2004 AltWeekly Award, Cartoon (More than five papers), 2nd Place, for ''This Modern World'' * 2006 AltWeekly Award, Cartoon (Four or more papers), 3rd Place, for ''This Modern World'' * 2013 Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning * 2014

Association of Alternative Newsmedia The Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN) is a trade association of alternative weekly newspapers in North America. It provides services to many generally Liberalism, liberal or Progressivism, progressive weekly newspapers across the Unite ...

second place award for cartooning * 2015 First Place, Cartoon category,

(AAN) Awards * 2015 Comic Strip Gold Medal in the Society of Illustrators' Comic and Cartoon Art Annual competition * 2015

Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer may refer to: *Joseph Pulitzer, a 19th century media magnate *Pulitzer Prize, an annual U.S. journalism, literary, and music award *Pulitzer (surname) *Pulitzer, Inc., a U.S. newspaper chain *Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, a non-prof ...

finalist * 2024 Clifford K. and James T. Berryman Award for Editorial Cartoons

References

External links

*
Buzzflash Interview: Tom Tomorrow, Author of "This Modern World"

Beyond Chron Profile: Tom Tomorrow

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomorrow, Tom 1961 births Living people American bloggers American editorial cartoonists American political writers American male non-fiction writers American comics writers American comics artists American political artists American humorists American satirists American satirical comics writers American satirical comics artists American political blogs Artists from Wichita, Kansas Pseudonymous comics artists Writers from Wichita, Kansas 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male bloggers